Into the Dark: A Pokemon Y Nuzlocke
by snowcloud8
Summary: In the beginning, there was nothingness. Then there was light, and that separated the day and night. Light gave birth to life but it also gave birth to darkness and death. Without darkness, there can never be light. But when one ventures into the darkness, can they ever find the light within or will they be consumed by the dark? Join Alice as she explores the Kalos region. Pairings
1. Chapter 1: New Beginnings

**Into the Dark: A Pokémon Y Nuzlocke (Comic)**

**(DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON OR NUZLOCKING, NOR DO I CLAIM TO! THIS IS MY ADVENTURE ALONE. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT!)**

**Rules**

1. It faints, it's dead.

2 Only if you have been given or find a revive, can you bring back a pokémon, but it has to be given to the most recently dead pokémon and within 24 hours of their death (no reason to bring back a rotting skeleton!).

3. One pokémon per area (hoards included). Random wild ambushes, rock smash attacks, and buildings/facilities within a route, however, are considered different encounters.

3.5 Shiny pokémon can be caught, regardless of not being a first encounter, but can NOT be used.

4. Repeats are allowed.

5. Mystery gifts are allowed (but recommended not to use unless you can handle their level; same with legendaries).

6. Trades and gifts from NPC players count as pokémon received in the area. Wonder trades are not included in the previous rule, as they come from the internet and are technically from "different areas" (hence why Vivillian has many different colors).

7. Nickname all of them.

8. A complete white out is game over.

**Chapter 1: New Beginnings**

**Started: December 25th **

**Caught: 0**

**Dead: 0**

As the sun shone through the glass window, a red and blueish bird pokémon swooped around the room before it landed on the sleeping girl's face and pecked her.

"Mmm...-ouch!" I groaned, blindly flicking off the wild robin off my face. It lived in the oak tree in front of our house next to sandpit my mom's Rhyhorn liked to lie in, and soon the two pokémon became fast friends.

_Stupid bird..._

The irritating little sparrow was just one of the annoying new things I had to put up with. I now had to deal with the fact that my mother made me leave the sweet comforts of home to move to a town in the middle of nowhere in the Kalos region, but that's not what I couldn't believe. What I couldn't believe was that she made us move here on Christmas Day (I remembered this by seeing the bows on the new Wii U she bought me in the center of the room). I mean, who does that?!

I stumbled down the stairs, grabbing a poptart out of the cabinet and punched them into the toaster before a cheerful figure pranced out of the kitchen.

"Morning Alice! You sure slept well." my mother grinned, bringing over a tray of food on her right arm. "I just made some French toas-Alice! You looked like you just rolled out of bed!"

"Yeah. No thanks to Fletchling over there..." I remarked sarcastically at the sparrow pokémon, who had just landed on the couch.

"Go upstairs and change before you comeback down here and enjoy Christmas breakfast." I rolled my eyes at her, plopping my poptarts on a plate and began trudging up the stairs.

"No thanks... I'll just take my poptart to-go."

"Look... I know you liked Viridian City, but I'm sure you'll make lots of friends here in Vaniville Town." I rolled my eyes at her accusation. "After you're done changing, why don't you go say hi to the neighbors?"

"Sure whatever..." I waved off as I climbed back up the stairs into my room and shoved the rest of the poptart into my mouth.

I didn't ask for this. I _never _asked for this. I was fine with my life back in Kanto with just my mom and me, grabbing the Magnet train and traipsing over to Johto for some shopping every now and again; there should've been snow up to my ears in Goldenrod City by now! But no, I had to be stuck here in the warm countryside in Vaniville Town because of mom's new boyfriend Sycamore. I haven't met him yet, but I know he's the pokémon professor in the area. They apparently met at one of mom's Rhyhorn races.

I just was ready to ask for a starter from Professor Oak, but she pulled me out of there the day before I was scheduled to meet him! I had which starter I wanted to pick out and everything!

She thinks Sycamore'll get into my good graces by being a pokémon professor, but if she thinks I'll love him at the drop of a hat like she did, but she is sadly mistaken. The only reason I am even bothering to like him is because he finally convinced my mother to let me start my pokémon journey. She used to be a pokémon trainer, but something that went down during her journey made her lose faith in the whole thing and make her become a Rhyhorn racer instead (she got really into pokéathlons). She thinks pokémon battles are "dangerous" and that "battling will only get yourself and your pokémon killed." I am aware of the risk, but this is just something that I have to do for myself. I'm tired of being known as "Grace's daughter." I'm not cut out for racing. I've NEVER been cut out for racing. I just want to be known for doing what I do by just being me, not the daughter of a Rhyhorn racer.

I stared back at my reflection. Mom said that I got my silver eyes from my father, but I could barely remember the guy. She said that he was a great man that helped stop Team Rocket from taking over Johto, whoever those losers are; some sort of has-been mafia gang, I think... She said that he was a bit of a drifter and didn't like to stay in one place too long; he sent me a laptop and couple of postcards, but that was it. She said that I got that from him too...

_'Ugh...I knew I shouldn't have dyed my hair. It looks horrible in the morning...'_ I thought, grundging up my honey blonde hair in my hand before I sighed and pulled the back half of it into a half ponytail, covering up the top of it with a red velvet crush hat.

Oh well... I don't need him or my father.

Right as I was about to leave my house, two figures surprised me outside.

"Welcome to Vaniville Town. My name's Calem. I'm your neighbor." said the boy, looking very much the part of the Boy Next Door.

"And I'm Shauna. Great to meet you!" the girl said, shaking my hand excitedly. Her hair and personality vaguely reminded me of a Buneary and a Pachirisu.

"N-Nice to meet you." I said awkwardly, trying to pull my hand out of her grip. _Did they know I was coming? Did Mom plan all this?_

"Guess what? We've come to get you!" said Shauna. _She DID plan this! When will Mom learn that I don't like taking handouts?_

"The esteemed Pokémon Professor Sycamore lives in the Kalos region." explained Calem. "I was told that he had a request for five kids, including us. But I'm surprised that he knows who you are. You did just move to Vaniville Town, after all."

"Well... he's kinda acquainted with my mother, so that would be why he does know me." I mumbled to myself, which Shauna overheard.

"Oh... Well, we'll wait in the next town over! And do you know what?!" Shauna continued before I could answer. "We're going to get... a Pokémon! So come on! Hurry up and let's go!" She dragged me down the creaking open gates of our little town and down the street before she dropped me halfway through Aquacorde Town.

"Sorry about her. She can be a little... excited at times." Calem said apologetically. "So this is the meeting place. I'll introduce you. Everyone, this is Alice."

"Wow... Shauna's description was spot on." blushed a chubby looking kid with black hair and tshirt with a vanillite on it, who was sitting down with another boy at a table on the far left with six chairs around him.

"So, Alice. This is Tierno. He can really tear up the dance floor..."

"I've got to have swag in order to impress the ladies~" he winked, trying to look cool in front of me.

"And this is Trevor. He's a little shy, but he always gets perfect scores on his tests." Calem continued, gestering to the ginger boy with pale skin and gray eyes.

"You know, it'd feel like we'd be a closer crew if we called each other by nicknames." Tierno interrupted, leaning in closer to me. "Can I call you Lady A?~"

"No way! She's a Lil' A for sure!" Shauna jumped in, grabbing and hugging my arm, oblivious to Tierno's affection. "What do you think Trevor?!"

"What!? You want me to nickname someone I have just met?! Shauna, you shouldn't put people on the spot like that." Trevor scolded, Shauna slowly releasing my arm. I sighed in relief. _FINALLY! Someone who gets it!_ _I think I'm starting to like Trevor..._

"Well... how about something low key like A-kins?"

"Uhhh... just Alice is fine." I sweat-dropped. "You don't have to call me anything. Really."

I cringed at the thought of hanging out with these people, but as long as I got a pokémon out of it, I could deal with it.

"Hey! Can we see the pokémon now? I want to meet my new partner soon!" Shauna bounced impatiently.

"Sure. It's such a cool feeling when Trevs and I met our pokémon. I'm sure you guys will feel the same way too." Tierno said, reaching for the case.

"What? You mean, you guys already have pokémon?" I blinked.

"Yes. Tierno caught his Corphish while fishing on the beach and I got mine pokémon when I went into the Santalune forest and caught it for Professor Sycamore." replied Trevor.

"Oh? What kinda pokémon did you get?" I asked him.

"A Pikachu."

"Omigosh, really?! That's so cool!" I gushed, Trevor turning a little red at my excitement. After some struggling with his fat stomach, Tierno managed to pull the pokeballs out from inside his creepy looking fanny pack. "Here are the balls!"

I winced, not wanting to touch something that was close to his junk, but decided to anyways and pulled out some hand sanitizer afterwards.

I've been waiting for this moment since forever! Even though I was planning on getting a starter from Kanto, I knew about the Kalos starters and their final evolutions. As soon as I picked the Froakie, I was going to name him Black Star after an anime I used to watch, and we'd finally begin our journey together and-...!

I glanced at the pokeball in hand, realizing as I released the pokémon, that I had not been blessed with the stereotypical boy, but a female Froakie. Slightly disappointed but still excited anyways, I decided to give her the name Sarah-Jane instead.

**Froakie: Sarah-Jane**

**Ability: Torrent**

**Nature: Naughty, ****Likes to Flee**

"Ok! My partner is Fennekin!" Shauna beamed, picking up the fire fox and crushing her to her cheek. "Wow! We go great together! The two of us are just way-ay-ay too cute!"

It was then that I started to pity that poor fox...

"Good to meet you, Chespin. My name's Calem." the latter said, kneeling down toward his pokémon. "Because of you, I can be a real pokémon trainer. Thanks!"

"Uh, pardon me, but I have something for you from the Professor as well. I have something that will help you understand your pokémon on a much deeper level." Trevor said, handing me a pokedex.

"This device should uhhh be able to record any pokémon you encounter on your journey and tell you about them. The goal is to collect as much data as you can so that you can complete the pokedex for Professor Sycamore. That's my goal! I want to study as much about pokémon as I can so that I can learn even more about them-!"

"Oh lighten up, Trevs! You're way too serious sometimes!" Tierno said, slapping the boy gruffly on the back. "Ummm Lady A? I've got something for you too..." Tierno began reaching into his pants-

_Oh dear god..._

-to pull out an envelope from his fanny pack.

_Oh dear sweet frickin' god, he's not already got a love letter for me, does he?! Was he hiding that in his pants?!_

"It's a letter from the professor. He said you should give it to your mom." I hesitated grabbing the letter, pinching it at the edge of my two fingers. It reeked of perfume and man-stink from the inside of Tierno's fanny pack.

"It smells awful." I mumbled under my breath.

"Thank you for taking me away from that dreadful place!" Sarah Jane said as we both shuddered.

"Alright! We're done with the errand for the Professor. I guess Trevs and I will go out and look for Pokémon!" he said leaning down to kiss my hand. "'Til next time, Lady A."

"Uh huh... Right" I weakly grinned, pulling my hand away.

"Let's go Trevs!" Tierno said, a meek Trevor looking back at him and me before he hopped off of his chair.

"It was nice meeting you Trevor. See you later." I smiled sympathetically, receiving a shy nod from him before he took off.

_Guess I should go give this letter to my Mom..._ I thought before Shauna dashed out in front of me and blocked my path.

"Li'l A, wait!"

"I told you, it's just Alice." I said in vain before she smartly points at me.

"You're gonna be my opponent in my pokémon-battling debut!"

"But I don't want to get my paws dirty..." Fennekin pouted as she shook her tail in a tail whip.

"Not my problem if you don't want to get down in the dirt!" Sarah-Jane said as she launched a Bubble attack, taking out Shauna's Fennekin in a matter of seconds.

"Hey! I wasn't done watching my cute li'l Fennekin yet! ...But here! I'll heal up your pokémon." she said cheerfully, placing a kiss on my Froakie's head. "There! All better!"

"Yeaaaah, sooo I'm gonna go, but it was nice meeting you, Shauna..." I said, grabbing my froakie beginning to awkwardly back away.

"Sure. Say hi to your mother for me!" she grinned as I quickly walked away in fear.

"God... I thought I'd NEVER get away from her." I sighed, stopping after she was finally out of my line of sight on Route 1.

"You do realize why she's like that, right?" said Sarah-Jane.

"Huh? Like what? Hyper?"

"...Never mind. You'll find out soon enough." she shook her head.

"Hey... so I know both of us weren't really expecting either of us, but I'd really appreciate it if you'd help me out on my journey. I know it's long and difficult, but I think you're the froakie to do it."

"Well... when you put it like that. I'm not one much for fighting, but I'm have to train to be a ninja. So in the mean time, when it comes to battling, I'm your girl."

"Thanks Sarah-Jane." I said, fist pumping her.

"Call me SJ for short." she winked. Soon, I found myself back in Vaniville Town.

"So? What did you and the neighbor kids end up doing? Is that a pokémon with you?" my mom asked, spotting Sarah-Jane at my feet.

"So you DID fix me up with those weirdoes?!"

"I'm just trying to help you make friends."

"Well, don't! I can make my own friends. I don't need _your_ help." I growled, Sarah-Jane looking up observantly at me before I held out the crumpled letter. "Anyways, that's for you. From Professor Sycamore."

"Oh really? A letter for me?" she said, sniffing the envelope as SJ and I cringed at her action. "Perfume scented, as always. He always writes the sweetest love letters. Always has such nice handwriting... Oh. Looks like he has a request for you. He says to meet up with him at Lumiose City at his lab."

"So... This pokémon thing... It's really happening now, isn't it?"

"Mom, I'm nineteen. I've already completed school like you wanted, but I need to do this for me. I don't want to follow in your footsteps and become a Rhyhorn racer. I want to go out and experience new things and compete in the Pokémon League."

She stood there in silence before Fletchling started chirping again.

"Well then, you'll need these..." she said, handing me a red tote bag. "I found some of your old clothes, so you have a spare change of clothes in case your uniform gets dirty and there's also a town map in there for you to find your way back home... Merry Christmas."

"Thanks... Merry Christmas, Mom." I said, hugging her.

"Be safe..."

"I will." I grinned wanly before I turned out the door. "As long as I have my pokémon with me, nothing will stand in my way."

ROOOOAH!

Mom's Rhyhorn awoke from his sandpit and crashed his way over towards me.

"Ha ha! Except maybe for Rhyhorn. Guess you wanted to wish me luck too, huh?" I grinned, patting him on the head. "Sorry that I can't take you with me. It feels like I've known you forever."

"Come home soon." he grinned as I walked out the gates of Vaniville. Rhyhorn was more like a father to me than anyone I had met. It was probably the reason that I could understand pokémon; I'd known him ever since I was a baby. He was always so protective of me and would let me ride on him when I wanted. If I found a Rhyhorn like him on my journey, well... I guess that would be alright.

Too bad it was the last time I would ever see them...


	2. Chapter 2: Friendship is Magic

**Chapter 2: Friendship is Magic**

**(DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON OR NUZLOCKING, NOR DO I CLAIM TO! THIS IS MY ADVENTURE ALONE. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT!)**

**Pokémon: 1**

**Deaths: 0**

While travelling to Route 2, I managed to buy some potions and pokeballs from the local shop, since Route 1 provided no pokémon for me. Which is when I encountered _her._

"Okay, Sarah-Jane, this is our first area to find a pokémon, so don't blow it and kill everyone."

"I make no promises..." Sarah said, ready to launch the bubbles on her back. Suddenly, there was a rustling and flapping of wings in the grass.

_'Oh no... please don't let it be a fletchling..!'_ I thought as the pokémon dashed out of the bushes and began to swoop around us.

"Sarah! Get it!" I said as the Froakie began flinging her bubbles, only for the bird pokémon to dodge everyone of them.

"How dare you come across my domain, mortals! I shall turn you all into toads!" cawed the pidgey as she swooped down to tackle my partner.

"Too bad. Sarah-Jane's already a frog!" I remarked as the latter finally landed a bubble attack that stuck the pidgey to the ground. She wrestled around on the ground excitedly for a bit before her eyes grew wide.

"Wow! Lady, are you magic?!" the bird asked, grinning happily and looking completely different than she was before.

"What..?" I said, slightly taken aback at the pidgey's demeanor.

"Are you magic? You must be if you can understand me!" Her wings stuck slightly, but she jumped onto her feet and hopped over towards me. "I've always wanted to work for a witch; I'm a familiar in training. All the stupid Purrloins and Glameows always get to be familiars. Even the Murkrows laugh at me. But I'll work really hard. I'm really good at brewing berries and stuff."

"Well... what can I say to that? Welcome aboard, Kiki..." I said as I tapped the pokeball to her head.

**Pokémon: Kiki**

**Ability: Keen Eye**

**Nature: Bold, Quick Tempered**

"Wow! You caught a pokémon already?!" exclaimed a familiar voice belonging to Shauna. Her and the others were gathered around in the grasslands ahead trying to capture pokémon, Shauna trying to chase after a terrified and catch it in her arms and Trevor and Tierno looking under bushes. "You're amazing, Li'l A! Guess you won't need Calem's help then. Both of his parents are really awesome trainers, so he's teaching me how to catch pokémon."

"Oh really? You're parents were trainers?"

"...Yeah. My mom worked with pokémon contests and my dad used to be the leader of a pokémon gym in Hoenn. But whatever, they've got nothing to do with me. I learned how to do this with my own skill."

_Hmmm... I can respect that. He wants to make his own mark, not by the merits of his heritage._

His Chespin tackled a Fletchling before he threw a pokéball at it.

"The key is to weaken it and then strike. Sometimes you need more higher grade pokeball to catch some of the tougher opponents, but usually a more successful catch is if you manage to hit the power point on the pokémon. That's where all their energy is stored. To manage to hit that spot sometimes takes years of practice to locate and hit correctly, but if you manage it, you can capture a pokémon in one shot rather than waiting for the pokeball to settle."

"Wow, Calem, you know so much." Shauna awed, staring at the pokeball in his hand. "So there's really a pokémon INSIDE the pokeball?!"

"Of course there is, Shauna. Your Fennekin is inside its pokeball too..." Calem frowned, a little worried about the brunette's ability to remember. "Anyways, I'll give you two some pokeballs. My parents, for some reason, thought that I was going to need fifty something pokeballs and gave me extras."

"Thanks..." I said, adding them to my stockpile before Shauna clasped her fists.

"Okay! I'm going to catch tons of cute pokémon now!"

I grinned as he went on ahead as Shauna began rustling around in a patch further south. After walking towards the Santalune Forest, a wild Zigzagoon jumped out.

"Okay Kiki, it's level crunching time!" I said as the bird sent a flying tackle at the zigzagoon. It growled, not appreciative of the hit and sent another tackle in Kiki's direction.

"Kiki! Are you okay?!" I yelped, the tackle doing much more damage to her than her to it. I went out and grabbed the bird pokémon before I turned to my other companion.

"Sarah-Jane, finish him off!" The raining speed of her slamming the opponent with bubbles, it was over in seconds. After the battle, I began to spray one of the potions I had on Kiki's wing.

"Wow, Alice, you really are magic... How did you brew these magic potions?" the pidgey asked, examining her healing wounds in wonder.

"She didn't brew them, you idiot; they're not even magic! She bought them from a store. They're medicine for pokémon." Sarah-Jane remarked crossing her arms, causing the newly healed pidgey to jump up angrily.

"Hey! I'm not an idiot! I was just curious how they worked-" she flapped before another wild zigzagoon blindsided her in the side.

"...Here, let me heal you again." I said, giving Kiki another potion as Sarah-Jane pounded the raccoon into submission.

"Says the weak pidgey who keeps needing potions to heal her..." Sarah-Jane smirked, sniffing slightly as Kiki struggled to lift herself up.

"I freakin' _hate _zigzagoons..." Kiki growled as I finished off the rest of the potion's contents.

...

After some more level crunching and some pidgey versus pidgey battles, we arrived in front of the Santalune forest.

"When two trainers' eyes meet, a battle begins..." said a youngster trainer, stopping us from entering the woods. "Go, Zigzagoon!"

As I was about to send out my froakie, a red flash from Kiki's pokeball illuminated the battlefield, a shadow casting over her eyes. She tilted her head towards Sarah-Jane before were she stared back at the brown and white raccoon.

"Back off, Sarah-Jane. This one's all mine..." she growled, her glare as fearsome as a Spearow's as she struck him with a critical hit, causing the raccoon to serpentine in fear.

"Get back here, you stupid badger! If I was a Pidgeot, I'd eat you for freakin' breakfast and use your tail in one of my potions!" Kiki yelled as she tackled the poor zigzagoon, knocking him back against a tree.

"My zigzagoon...!" the youngster trainer cried as he picked up the broke pokémon and ran back towards Aquacorde Town. "You heartless monster!"

"Sorry!" I called out apologetically as the child sobbed, the pidgey still looking proud of herself.

...

"So this is the Santalune Forest..." I observed, enjoying the calm scenery. "It's kinda of quiet and peaceful in he-"

"ALICE!" yelled an obnoxiously familiar voice.

_I shoulda seen that one coming..._

"Wait up! Let's walk together!" Shauna said cheerfully.

"Uh... why?"

"Because, I'm sure something MAGICAL will happen if I stick with you!" she replied, her eyes having an almost insane amount of sparkly luster in them.

"_Okaaaaay_... And why do you expect something, dare I say, 'magical' to happen just because you're walking with me?"

"Because we're friends, silly!" She beamed.

"...So, if something magical happens because you're friends, does that mean that friendship is m-?" Kiki began.

"DON'T EVEN SAY IT." I glared, cutting off the clueless bird pokémon. Last thing I need is my own pokémon making My Little Ponyta references.

"You can't deny that we're friends! I already tattoo'd your name on my back." Shauna said showing the name Alice in black cursive on her lower back.

_When did she-!? How did she-!? Why did it HAVE to be a tramp stamp!?_ I gaped in a blind realization. Suddenly Tierno didn't seem so creepy anymore...

_Well... at least she's good for something: a healer, like all the other useless gaming women._ I thought, grimacing as she happily chased around and cornered a Pikachu, only to get shocked and still continue after it like nothing happened. _But I'm starting to question if it's really worth it..._

**After a couple of trainer battles, found items, and Shauna kisses/healing later...**

"La La La Laaa Laaaaaa, La La La Laaa Laaaaa, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" sang Shauna at the top of her lungs.

_If she sings My Little Ponyta ONE more time, I swear to god, I'm going to murder her and make it look like a bad training accident! I need to find a way to ditch this psychopath before she kills me with her needy-ness or her vocal cords!_

"EEWWWWWWWWW! ALICE, SAVE ME! IT'S A WEEEEEDLE!" Shauna screeched, hiding behind me as the little worm inched its way out of the grass.

"What the-? Shauna, it's just a little bug. It's not going to hurt you." I said, rolling my eyes in irritation.

"Nooooooooooooooo! That thing is ugly AND GROSS!" she cried, squeamishly holding onto my arm tighter as if the ugliness would go away.

"...I'm gonna catch it." I smirked as I sent out my pokémon. The weedle noticed its opponent and shot string shot at it before

"What?! Why would you ever catch such a thing?!" Shauna asked distressed and slightly disgusted that I would ever catch such a thing.

"Two reasons. One, you hate the thing. Two... Beedrill are badass!" I smirked. "Now, Sarah-Jane, use pound!"

The ninja froakie sent the weedle flying into the ground, but not before it suspended its fall with string shot.

"Go, pokeball!" I threw the red and white orb at the bug before it was enveloped in a white flash, rocking a couple times before it clicked shut. "Sweet! I caught him."

"Ah ha ha... Okay. You've had your fun. Now release him before someone gets hurt." Shauna laughed awkwardly before she hid further behind my arm again, even though the weedle was inside the pokeball.

"What? Why would I do that? Besides, he's not hurting anybody being here."

"...You're not seriously going to keep him, are you?" she deadpanned.

"Why not? He looks like he could become a potential powerhouse."

"But he's so ugly! I hate ugly things!" Shauna recoiled. "...If you're keeping him, I am leaving_ right now_."

It was then that I put on my most serious face and looked her straight in the eyes.

"Shauna... he's staying. End of story."

"...Well fine! Guess you _don't_ need my help getting through this forest. So much for your friendship..." she sniffed, angrily swinging her fists back before she pouted and took off into the forest.

"Don't let the forest floor hit you on the way out!" I called out irritably before I sent out the little weedle. _Safety, thy name is Weedle!_

"Yay! FOOD!" Kiki exclaimed as she hungrily dove for the cringing bug type.

"NO, KIKI! We don't eat teammates!" I cried out, stopping the bird in midflight with my arm.

"Awww..." the pidgey whined before she fluttered back down onto the ground.

"It's okay, little guy. You can come out." I said, trying to goad the little critter out from hiding.

"I w-wasn't scared! I-I could've taken you on!" said the weedle, stretching his body so that he could be taller and puff out his invisible chest. "I've been training here for forever with all the other bug pokémon and no one holds a candle towards me."

"Or the damage you cause." Sarah-Jane, noting the damage his fight had caused, strings of bug goop hanging off a dented tree branch.

"That's because I love to fight. It's in my blood, I'm telling you! I was born to be a fighter!"

"Huh... I like the little sprout's spunk." Sarah Jane remarked, grinning at the weedle's confidence.

"Hmm... well, welcome to the team, Ralph." I grinned as I held out my hand, the weedle crawling up my arm and onto my shoulder.

**Pokémon: Ralph**

**Ability: Swarm**

**Nature: Careful, Loves to Fight**

After wandering the forest floor, a rustling yellow pokémon popped out of the grass.

"Oh my god, it's a Pikachu!" I exclaimed happily before my grin started to fade. "Oh my god... it's a _Pikachu!"_

Pikachu were not only extremely fast, but thundershock was the first move they could learn, and all I had on my team were types that were susceptible to electricity! And this one... was MALE, and he had seen us.

_'I could let SJ take one hit, but she'd be too weak to stay in battle to last another one, no matter how many times I could heal her, and just sending out Kiki while I healed her...? It would finish her off in a heartbeat!'_

"Alice, put me in!" Ralph said, poking his stinger at my head to get my attention.

_Oh right! I now had Ralph! But... he was a level 2 when I got him. He may not be strong enough to fight off a Pikachu._

"Are you sure, Ralph? You haven't trained all that much."

"I've got this one, boss." Ralph said as he jumped into battle and puffed out his chest. "I'M GONNA WRECK IT!"

The Pikachu began its first attack, trying to launch a thundershock attack, but barely missing him. Ralph then countered with a string shot attack that started to slow the Pikachu down, but couldn't keep it at bay forever.

"Ralph, use Poison Sting attack!" I commanded, raining poison darts onto the electric mouse pokémon, but the pokémon was still moving. He countered with another thundershock, this time hitting his target, but not hitting Ralph hard enough as he fired back with another Poison sting, landing a critical hit and poisoning him.

"You've got him, Ralph!" I cheered. "Now finish him off with one last Poison Sting!"

Ralph spat out more stingers from his horn before I healed him the next round, the Pikachu deciding to use Play Nice, instead of thundershock, to lower Ralph's attack. But it was already too late. The poison finally set in and made the iconic mouse fall over in exhaustion.

"Nice going, Ralph! You showed that rat who's boss!" Kiki cheered.

"You did good, kid." Sarah-Jane nodded at the little weedle, who was beaming so proudly he looked like he was shining. Actually... he WAS shining! Ralph was evolving!

Ralph began to be encased by a white light, the metamorphosis already taking place before the white light left his body, revealing him to be... exactly the same!

"I'll evolve a little bit later... Right now, I want to leave this forest and train with you guys."

"Sounds like a plan to me." I grinned, suddenly noticing that someone with ginger hair was crouched down in the grass in front of me.

"Hey! It's Trevor!" I smiled before I noticed the chubby kid next to him. "And... Tierno."

A loud brunette was barking at another trainer near the tall grass.

"-And Shauna, as well." Sarah-Jane said as the she-devil started talking with Calem. "Looks like she found Calem, all right."

_Damn... I thought she got lost in the woods..._

"The way pokemon move... it's just incredible! I want to show off some of that spirit when I dance!

"Tierno, Could you think about something besides hitting on girls or how pokemon move for once?"

"Don't throw off my groove, Trevs. I'm in the zone!" Tierno said, dancing and spinning into the grass like a top.

"Well, I'm off to go collect data. The professor did ask us to complete the pokedex, after all. And further more, different pokémon prefer living in different places. To put it another way, it's a chance to find different pokémon than the ones in the forest." Trevor said before he started wandering off ahead.

"I'll bet different pokémon will use different moves. I sure want to see lots of moves~" Tierno grinned at me before Sarah-Jane punched him in the stomach.

"What are you gonna do, Calem?" Shauna asked, Tierno clutching his stomach in pain.

"I'm going to go to Santalune city's gym and take on the gym leader. I want to test my strength against the gym leader there."

"Which gym leader's in Santalune City, again?" I asked, still trying to recall my knowledge from training school.

"Viola. She's a bug type user, so I'm training as much as I can to take her on."

"But who's going to teach me more about pokémon?" Shauna whined before Calem slapped a large stack of paper in her hands and shoved it into her chest.

"There! That's all the adventure rules you need to know in order to become a pokémon trainer. If that doesn't teach you how to become a trainer, I don't know what will." Calem sighed before he turned towards the dirt path. "Well, see you guys later."

"...So Alice, you wanna practice some moves-?" Tierno began.

"No!" I yelled, holding out my hand to stop him. _**Alice used Run Away.**_

...

"Oh thank GOD, I got away from those freaks..." I huffed before I accidental stepped on something squishy.

"Ow-!" yelped a small voice. "Got away from who, ma'am?" I looked down to see a small Azurill curling his tail around his body, trying to lick the bump away.

"Oh! Sorry if I stepped on you." I apologized.

"Oh no, it's fine. I'm just glad you didn't step on the flowers." he said in relief, bounding towards the patch to my left before jumping off his tail to water them with his water gun.

"You're the one who's been caring for all the flowers here?" I raised my eyebrows in surprise, hardly believing that one little pokémon could care for this huge field of flowers.

"Well... I can hardly claim complete credit for all of these; I just watered 'em a little. You should see the flowers the Flabébé take care of on Route 4." "But it's not just the flowers I care for. It's the grass and trees and even some of the pokémon around here."

"Wow... you're a regular pokémon ranger, aren't you?"

"I wish I could be as great as a pokemon ranger. I envy all the work that they do with their human partners. They help so many people and pokémon, they must have wicked amounts of good karma."

"Karma?"

"You remember the story? Of how pokémon and humans were once like two peas in a pod? Well, my momma told me that if a pokémon does enough good deeds, when they die, they're reincarnated into a human. Karma can be good or bad, but once it's tallied up, it will determine what you will be in the next life."

"Wow... that's a really positive mindset..." I blinked. "I didn't even know pokemon had their own religion..."

"Of course we do. You think you humans are the only ones that believe in a higher power? No siree, ma'am. We critters come from all different walks of life have different ways of thinkin', just like ya'll do."

"I like to believe that if you give a little, good things happen to you. So that's why I care for all of these flowers, but I can only do so much for someone my age."

"So brings ya'll here? Are you a Pokémon Ranger?" he asked. I shook my head. "...a trainer then, perhaps?"

"Yes. There, you would be right."

"Do ya mind if I come along with 'cha? I've done about all I can here, and I can't quite explain it, but something tells me that going with you is the best decision right now."

"I'd be happy to have you. Always good to have a Fairy type on the team. What's your name?"

"Oh! Pardon me for my manners..." the Azurill bowed its head like a hat tip. "...My name is Rick."

"You're a polite little pokémon, aren't cha?" Kiki grinned, moving a little too close to Rick's face for comfort.

"J-Just the way I've been taught, ma'am." he stuttered, leaning backwards a bit on his tail.

"Huh... Ranger Rick. I like it. Welcome aboard, Rick." I grinned thoughtfully, patting the top of his squishy blue head.

**Pokémon: Rick**

**Ability: Huge Power**

**Nature: Gentle, Capable of Taking Hits**

"Before I go, mind if I ask what y'all were running from?" he turned his head up at me. "If it was a wild pokémon, would you not battle them?"

"Trust me, honey. It wasn't the wild pokémon we couldn't deal with." Sarah-Jane said, crossing her arms.

"Then wha-?"

"Just some crazies I'd rather forget." I interrupted before I splashed my face with stream water and smacking my cheeks. "Alright... Santalune City, here we come!"


End file.
